Seoul Myeon — Restaurant in Troy

“Taste of Korea!” I shouted after taking one bite out of jjajangmyun. Color, smell, consistency of the sauce, doneness of the noodle all remind me of the latest trend of jjajangmyun in Korea. The pork in the sauce also tasted very fresh and flavorful. And on top of all of that, it came with a wok-fried egg as a garnish, which had perfectly fried edges and soft gooey yolk.

Jjamgbbong was also heavenly. One spoonful of the soup made me go “kyaaaaaaa” like a proper Korean ajussi inside of me. The depth of the flavor layer was deeper than the bottom of Lake Superior, with all the very noticeably fresh seafood.

Tangsooyook was also remarkable. It was good even without the sauce, as the meat was well seasoned and the batter was not too hard. It was a good combination of soft and crunchy texture, great for both dipped and poured style. It was topped with some non-conventional vegetables like shredded cabbage, which actually complemented the overall mouthfeel.

Tonkatsu is a very traditional Korean “light western” style, with thin meat fried and drenched in sauce. Also, a very good combination of crunchy and soft textures.

The servers were very accommodating serving our table of two adults, and 3 toddlers. And of course, all 5 of us were delighted with the food.

This place is a state treasure that needs to be protected at all cost. A 5-star review is not an overstatement.

Photos? The food was too good I forgot...

I got here around 11:15am and the place wasn't busy. Since I had reviewed the menu few times, I knew what I wanted.

I went with: -Jjampong Youringi (Fried Chicken with chili pepper seasoning on top)

Jjampong - here's my review: first and foremost, the noodle were over cooked and it was very mushy. That alone was very disappointing. the broth was decent, but lacked that "refreshing" taste one would expect. it contained few shrimps and squids, five mussels, of which one wasn't open.

Jjampong itself was more like 1 out of 5.

Youringi - I liked this dish, be it at $25, it's hard to justify getting this dish. It's one of those dishes you order once to try and never get it again. The fried chicken wasn't super crispy, however the fried chicken, the chili's, soy sauce seasoning and the lettuce went well together. I would recommend 1) take the chicken and dip it in the sauce 2) place that chicken on top of the lettuce, place some chopped chilies on top, wrap it and enjoy.

After ordering, you get a salad (those you get at a sushi joint) and danmuji (yellow radish), no other side banchon's are provided. No rice with Youringi.

Overall, for a place with name like Seoul Myeon, walked away disappointed with one of the noodle dishes. While it'll be a while before I revisit, when I do, I'll have to try their non-noodle dishes. This visit was an expensive one - $50 with tip...

I do enjoy writing these short stories as I can pretend to be someone famous like Andrew Bourdain, off on assignment at some exotic place that I yearn to be. Alas, here I am in my home office in a Detroit suburb. It's fun to get out and try something new, which leads me to Seoul Myeon.

They recently opened/reopened (not sure if its new management or not) and offered a small, soft opening menu. Korean food, culture, and the people is very close to me...I even married a sweet Korean gal. I've had an opportunity to savor my wife's, mother-in-law's and countless other's cooking over the years in the US and South Korea. Whether it be inferno level heat to a simple baked good I love it. I've only tried one dish here, and that's their Jajangmyeon...we'll I thought that's what I orderd, rather it was Jajangbap (rice instead of noodles)...a derivative (which interestingly a Koreanized adaption of a popular Chinese dish and also known as a popular Soldier's meal) and I found it tasty. To me it felt toned down and aimed at those new to Korean food or younger children. I guess you can call it an adaptation of an adaption. Nevertheless I savored every bite, admired the serving size, and along with its' side dish (Banchan). The atmosphere hasn't changed a lot and the service is still quite good. I'm curious to see the expanded menu in the future. A thumbs up...